Obama's Inaugural Poet To Read At Sunken Garden Festival In June

January 14, 2013|By ERIK HESSELBERG, Special to The Courant, The Hartford Courant

FARMINGTON – — The poet chosen to speak at President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony Jan. 21 is coming to the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival in June at the Hill-Stead Museum.

Cindie Cagenello, Hill-Stead's communications director, said the museum was thrilled to learn that Cuban-American poet Richard Blanco, who taught creative writing at Central Connecticut State University from 1999 to 2001, had been picked to deliver the inaugural poem.

"We learned about this Thursday and everyone was very excited," Cagenello said, adding that Blanco was already scheduled to read at the poetry festival June 24 when the museum received the news. Blanco previously read at Sunken Garden in 2004, winning the festival's top prize.

The renowned festival, now in its 20th year, is held outdoors each June in the "Sunken Garden," behind the museum. "We are delighted for Richard and for our audience," festival Director Mimi Madden said in a statement. "Last year Natasha Trethewey was announced as the new U.S. poet laureate just weeks before her festival reading, and now this honor for Richard Blanco gives poetry lovers in the area another wonderful opportunity."

Blanco, 44, was born to Cuban exiles in Miami and worked as an engineer before delving into poetry. He is the first Hispanic and gay person ever be named inaugural poet. According to White House spokesperson Addie Whisenant, Blanco was chosen by Obama because his "deeply personal poems are rooted in the idea of what it means to be an American."

President Obama said in a statement, "It is an honor to have Richard Blanco in our second inauguration. His contributions to the fields of poetry and art have paved the way for future generations of writers. Richard's work is well-suited for an opening that will celebrate the strength and diversity of our great country."

Blanco's acclaimed first book of poetry, "City of a Hundred Fires," received the Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize from the University of Pittsburgh Press.

In addition to Blanco's appearance, the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival's 2013 season will feature other major American poets throughout the summer, including Pulitzer Prize winners Tracy K. Smith and Philip Schultz, human rights advocate Carolyn Forche, and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins.